Plastic cups cannot be made without plastics. We need to understand plastics at first .
How is plastic made?
The way plastic is made depends a lot on which type of plastic there is used for the plastic cups. So let’s start with going through the three different types of plastic that is used for making plastic cups. The three different types of plastic is PET, rPET and PLA plastic.
A. PET plastic
PET stands for polyethylene terephthalate, which is the most common type of plastic. PET is the most common thermoplastic polymer resin of the polyester family and is used in fibres for clothing, containers for liquids and foods, and thermoforming for manufacturing, and in combination with glass fibre for engineering resins.It is especially used for bottles and more flexible plastic materials since it is really durable, and if it is collected correctly it can be recycled and used for other rPET. It also the most used material for making plastic cups because there is a large supply of it, and it is approved to be in contact with food materials.
The plastic is made from Naphtha oil which is a fraction of raw oil, this is made during a refining process where the oil splits into Naphtha, Hydrogen and other fractions. The oil extract Naphtha then become plastic via a process called Polymerization. The process connects ethylene and propylene to form polymer chains which in the end is what PET plastic is made of.
B. rPET plastic
rPET stands for recycled polyethylene terephthalate, and it is the most commonly used type of recycled plastic, because the durability of PET makes is easy to recycle and still ensure a high quality. Recycled PET is becoming a more widely used kind of plastic general, and a lot more companies are trying to make their products from rPET instead of normal PET. This is especially the construction industry, where more windows are made from rPET plastic. It could actually also be the frame for glasses.
C. PLA plastic
PLA plastic is a polyester produced by plant-based materials such as corn starch or sugar cane. When using this to produce PLA plastic there a couple of steps. The materials used go through wet milling, where the starch gets separated from the rest of the materials that are extracted from the plant material. The starch is then mixed with acid or enzymes and finally heated. The corn starch will become D-glucose, and it then goes through a fermentation process which will turn it into Lactic Acid.
PLA has become a popular material due to it being economically produced from renewable resources. Its widespread application has been hindered by numerous physical and processing shortcomings.
How are plastic cups made?
When it comes to plastic cups and how plastic cups are made it actually makes a difference if it is disposable or reusable plastic cups. Plastic cups are made from polyethylene terephthalate, or PET, a highly durable polyester plastic that resists both hot and cold temperatures and is fairly crack resistant. Through a process known as injection molding, the PET is mixed as a liquid, injected into cup-shaped molds and then cooled and solidified.
The plastic cups are made through a process called injection molding, where the plastic materials are mixed with liquids and inserted into the template for plastic cups, that determines the size and thickness of the cups.
So what intluences it the plastic cups are made as a disposable or reusable one depends onthe templates the
plastic thermoforming machine manufacturers uses.
Gtmsmart Plastic Cup Thermoforming Machine Mainly for the production of variety plastic containers ( jelly cups, drink cups, package containers, etc) with thermoplastic sheets, such as PP, PET, PE, PS, HIPS, PLA, etc.
The plastic cup making machine is controlled by hydraulic and servo, with inverter sheet feeding, hydraulic driven system, servo stretching, these make it has stable operation and finish product with high quality. Mainly for the production of variety plastic containers with formed depth ≤180mm ( jelly cups, drink cups, package containers, etc) with thermoplastic sheets, such as PP, PET, PE, PS, HIPS, PLA,etc.
Post time: Jun-08-2021